Wow! Where do I begin? If you are in the market for a T-6 becareful of what you buy. First off make sure you can afford one. This is a very maintenance intensive aircraft. Lets not forget the 27 to 32 gallons an hour of fuel it consumes that gets you nowhere in a hurry. This aircraft is a toy, a recreational vehicle that comes with a hefty price tag. Once again a pre-buy is imperative and it sould be done by someone that is very familiar with T-6's.
Some things to look out for while shopping for a T-6:
Unless you are planing on racing one do not buy a previous racer. Do not do it. These planes have been modified and most without logbook entries or approvals. If you insist on buying one keep in mind underneath that pretty paint job is pounds of BONDO hiding the access panels that should be removed during inspection of the wings. Those nice wing tips that are sitting flush with the wing are probably illegal and will cost a small fortune to remove when your IA wants to inspect the outer wing or your A&P needs to change a strobe box. Oh yea there goes your paint job.
These aircraft have been around for a really long time and there are very few that have not been ground looped at some point in their lives. Inspect, Inspect, Inspect the outer wing carefully. there are some pretty shoddy outer wing repairs out there. Make sure yours are good. During the pre-buy insist that the wing tips are removed and the wing throughly inspected.
Control cables. Insure that the proper cables are installed. Be on the look out for home-made cables. Let me add right here that the side panels are to be removed during the pre-buy inspection and the front seat.
Fuel tanks. Blue stains? There is a leak. Dry looking? Who cares? You should! There is a leak! Chances are an expensive one and probably the most dangerous. The fuel gauge comes up through the floor in the cabin. It is a mechanical gauge that is bolted to the top of the tank that leaks only while in flight. The only way to properly fix this leak is to remove the tank which always opens up another can of worms. If anyone says that they can properly fix it or change a gauge without removing the tank tell them I said they were full of....
I have already seen their shamful handy work.
Hydraulic selector/sequencing valve, call it what you like. Mounted on the left side fuselage between the fwd and aft seats. If it has any fluid at all on it get it fixed. It WILL get progressivly worse at an exponential rate. Same with the Flap actuator.
While we are on the subject of hydraulics lets discuss brakes. First the master cylinder. During a purchase any leakage at all is unacceptable. internal seals are probably failing as well. Have Red Line Disc brakes been installed? Is there a Logbook entry for them? If you answer no to either of these questions immediatly deduct at least seven thousand dollars from the purchase price. End of story on that subject.
The Tail wheel. How benign it looks but that pesky little... Wel,l jack the tail and inspect throughly. This is seldom done during a pre-buy. They might remove the panels around it and look at it but that really does no good. Chances are it will look fine. JACK IT. Grab the aft end of the trunion and try to move it left and right. If it moves at all have it fixed. Grab the tail wheel while in the locked position if there is excessive play have it repaired. Don't know the STC for the tail lock assy. but ensure it is done. It's about a seven hour job to re-bushing the tail wheel, trunion and tail strut assy plus parts. A tail wheel about to go into shimmy mode will leave you running over runway lights or in the ditch, maybe both.
Main struts. While the aircraft is on Jacks grab the rim of the main tire. push and pull fwd and aft. if there is any movment have it repaired. It basically results in a strut rebuild to replace that bearing.Also push it Inbd and otbd. Ensure the movement is within allowable limits.
Strato-flex hoses Check Mfg. Dates. You really do not want to find out what it cost to replace every hose on a T-6. If there is no MFG Date or improper hoses are installed have them replaced. Heater hoses from Autozone or NAPA are not proper hoses for your airplane.
These are some repairs that were performed on newly purchased T-6's within three to six months of purchase that made some very wealthy people wide eyed when they heard the cost of repair. All could have been known issues prior to purchase, with a proper pre-buy inspection, where the squawks could have been repaired at the sellars expense or the purchase price better negotiated.
On a side note: Be very wary of any T-6 that is being advertised as "restored". I have yet to see a T-6 in service that would come close to being what I would call restored. I would be more willing to bet it was simply built from several aircraft and a pretty paint job thrown on it. Never let the paint fool you.
Some things to look out for while shopping for a T-6:
Unless you are planing on racing one do not buy a previous racer. Do not do it. These planes have been modified and most without logbook entries or approvals. If you insist on buying one keep in mind underneath that pretty paint job is pounds of BONDO hiding the access panels that should be removed during inspection of the wings. Those nice wing tips that are sitting flush with the wing are probably illegal and will cost a small fortune to remove when your IA wants to inspect the outer wing or your A&P needs to change a strobe box. Oh yea there goes your paint job.
These aircraft have been around for a really long time and there are very few that have not been ground looped at some point in their lives. Inspect, Inspect, Inspect the outer wing carefully. there are some pretty shoddy outer wing repairs out there. Make sure yours are good. During the pre-buy insist that the wing tips are removed and the wing throughly inspected.
Control cables. Insure that the proper cables are installed. Be on the look out for home-made cables. Let me add right here that the side panels are to be removed during the pre-buy inspection and the front seat.
Fuel tanks. Blue stains? There is a leak. Dry looking? Who cares? You should! There is a leak! Chances are an expensive one and probably the most dangerous. The fuel gauge comes up through the floor in the cabin. It is a mechanical gauge that is bolted to the top of the tank that leaks only while in flight. The only way to properly fix this leak is to remove the tank which always opens up another can of worms. If anyone says that they can properly fix it or change a gauge without removing the tank tell them I said they were full of....
I have already seen their shamful handy work.
Hydraulic selector/sequencing valve, call it what you like. Mounted on the left side fuselage between the fwd and aft seats. If it has any fluid at all on it get it fixed. It WILL get progressivly worse at an exponential rate. Same with the Flap actuator.
While we are on the subject of hydraulics lets discuss brakes. First the master cylinder. During a purchase any leakage at all is unacceptable. internal seals are probably failing as well. Have Red Line Disc brakes been installed? Is there a Logbook entry for them? If you answer no to either of these questions immediatly deduct at least seven thousand dollars from the purchase price. End of story on that subject.
The Tail wheel. How benign it looks but that pesky little... Wel,l jack the tail and inspect throughly. This is seldom done during a pre-buy. They might remove the panels around it and look at it but that really does no good. Chances are it will look fine. JACK IT. Grab the aft end of the trunion and try to move it left and right. If it moves at all have it fixed. Grab the tail wheel while in the locked position if there is excessive play have it repaired. Don't know the STC for the tail lock assy. but ensure it is done. It's about a seven hour job to re-bushing the tail wheel, trunion and tail strut assy plus parts. A tail wheel about to go into shimmy mode will leave you running over runway lights or in the ditch, maybe both.
Main struts. While the aircraft is on Jacks grab the rim of the main tire. push and pull fwd and aft. if there is any movment have it repaired. It basically results in a strut rebuild to replace that bearing.Also push it Inbd and otbd. Ensure the movement is within allowable limits.
Strato-flex hoses Check Mfg. Dates. You really do not want to find out what it cost to replace every hose on a T-6. If there is no MFG Date or improper hoses are installed have them replaced. Heater hoses from Autozone or NAPA are not proper hoses for your airplane.
These are some repairs that were performed on newly purchased T-6's within three to six months of purchase that made some very wealthy people wide eyed when they heard the cost of repair. All could have been known issues prior to purchase, with a proper pre-buy inspection, where the squawks could have been repaired at the sellars expense or the purchase price better negotiated.
On a side note: Be very wary of any T-6 that is being advertised as "restored". I have yet to see a T-6 in service that would come close to being what I would call restored. I would be more willing to bet it was simply built from several aircraft and a pretty paint job thrown on it. Never let the paint fool you.
